Your towing rigs and trailers

[3 Horse Ranch]

The fuel is cheaper than diesel and the engine maintence expense is a heck of a lot less.

When I bought the truck used 2 years ago I hadn't figured on doing a lot of towing and a diesel of the same year and trim were nearly $8000 more. In the tow/haul mode it came off the passes well and I seldom had to touch the brakes. I am sure a diesel would have held the grades and climbed the hills better but I really have no complaints, The move over the mountains is done and we have a local source for hay for next year (hopefully) and anything that has to be hauled will be here in the river valley.

 

[Cacinok]

Load 5 of 5 hay big bales from Arlington WA tp Tonasket WA over North Cascades Pass and Loup Loup Pass (217 miles). Couldn't afford the diesel, 2015 6.2 gasser with an 18' car hauler. The 6 and 7% grades did slow me down a mite.
View attachment 720107

I love driving the NorthCascades Loop - on my motorcycle.

 

[duramaxsky]

I love driving the NorthCascades Loop - on my motorcycle.

Or in my Vette.

 

[ning]

The fuel is cheaper than diesel and the engine maintence expense is a heck of a lot less.

No doubt.
When I bought my truck (F350) in 1996, for me it was no contest between the 7.3 turbo diesel and a 7.5 gas hog. Having had the truck for 200k trouble free miles, I'm happy with my choice (diesel is actually 5-10% cheaper here this past year, too), but if I was buying a HD truck today I'd probably buy gas too... especially considering how much less I drive it now!

 

[Renze]

The fuel is cheaper than diesel and the engine maintence expense is a heck of a lot less.

What expenses are there on North American diesel engines that we dont have ?

Here in Holland, road tax is 3x as high on a diesel car, but because of fuel savings and diesel being 25% cheaper, fuel costs usually half of a petrol car.

When it comes to maintenance, i remember spark plug and coil replacements which i never did on a diesel. My friends V70 2.4 gas needs more maintenance than my V70 D5 and they both need synthetic oil...

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I love driving the NorthCascades Loop - on my motorcycle.

Never actually did the loop as a loop but I had to take both North Cascades and Stevens when the fires shut the North Cascades down for a few weeks during my move. Both are beautiful, but the North Cascades is spectacular all the way.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

What expenses are there on North American diesel engines that we dont have ?

Here in Holland, road tax is 3x as high on a diesel car, but because of fuel savings and diesel being 25% cheaper, fuel costs usually half of a petrol car.

When it comes to maintenance, i remember spark plug and coil replacements which i never did on a diesel. My friends V70 2.4 gas needs more maintenance than my V70 D5 and they both need synthetic oil...

Many diesels run for years with no problems, but when they do have problems they can get expensive. On top of that, if I had wanted a diesel version of my pickup, it would have cost me about $8000 more, and that was for a 5 year old truck.

 

[ning]

What expenses are there on North American diesel engines that we dont have ?

Here in Holland, road tax is 3x as high on a diesel car, but because of fuel savings and diesel being 25% cheaper, fuel costs usually half of a petrol car.

When it comes to maintenance, i remember spark plug and coil replacements which i never did on a diesel. My friends V70 2.4 gas needs more maintenance than my V70 D5 and they both need synthetic oil...

Tax on diesel fuel is typically somewhat higher than on gasoline. I suspect however the primary issue with diesel price is that only a minority of fueling stations sell diesel, which causes a supply & demand effect on prices, driving it up significantly.

Consider also that diesel engines cost considerably more than the gasoline engines offered in the same vehicles (in HD pickups, the diesel adds $10k over the base gas engine), and the significantly higher maintenance cost of the diesel (which now requires DEF, and 2-3x the motor oil).

All in all, it probably takes 200-300k miles or more of more efficient fuel use to make up for the other costs (those who tow a lot will have a quicker return since diesels tend to have less of an mpg reduction than gas engines).

 

[4570Man]

What expenses are there on North American diesel engines that we dont have ?

Here in Holland, road tax is 3x as high on a diesel car, but because of fuel savings and diesel being 25% cheaper, fuel costs usually half of a petrol car.

When it comes to maintenance, i remember spark plug and coil replacements which i never did on a diesel. My friends V70 2.4 gas needs more maintenance than my V70 D5 and they both need synthetic oil...

Emissions equipment.

 

[duramaxsky]

Emissions equipment.

Yeah that garage is a nightmare.